a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to metered fluid dispensing devices. Particularly, the invention relates to a modular fluid dispenser capable of ejecting variable fluid volumes in response to operation of the dispenser, which is preferably by actuation of a cord, but alternately by negative pressure at an output port of said dispenser.
b. Background of Invention
Visual artists, illustrators and painters want the ability to formulate color mixtures by manipulating tactile controls to establish said mixtures' component proportions. To this end, the device taught herein will allow the end user to synchronously deliver a mixture of any number of components, in any proportion to a spray gun or an airbrush, or to a receiving vessel whose internal pressure can be held lower than ambient to initiate dispensing.
The current invention not only addresses the need to produce a mixture of multiple components in which said components maintain a set proportion to one another but also aims to provide a solution that is infinitely adjustable, precise and relies on a semi rigid container to collapse towards a low internal volume state along a variable geometry path from some starting point on said path. Disclosed herein is a module that is able to volumetrically maintain exact mixture component ratio in concert with a system of such modules by mutually reinforcing the ratio to be dispensed via a shared feedback cable.
b. Description of Related Art
Fluid dispensers which form a mixture from individual fluid components are known, and are taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,527,201 and 3,353,716.
The above prior art devices are advantageously portable due to light weight construction when compared to alternatives whose embodiments require an electrical power source or an electronic central processing unit. The former device consumes compressed air, while the latter device is hand powered. Unfortunately, the prior art is severely limited as follows: The Chamelion color changer, detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,201 can mix and deliver just two colors simultaneously. This constrains the users' color choices to narrow areas of the colorimetric gamut unless they take it upon themselves to manage, swap and manipulate the order of the component colors' supply bottles. This system may also suffer from nonlinearities that are imposed by valve flow curves that are characteristic of each ratio controlling orifice of said device as end user demand for the dispensable fluids varies.
The device taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,716 enables incremental mixture formation by manually actuating respective component's control knobs in order to dispense each component. The mixture's components are thereby asynchronously introduced into the said dispenser's output receptacle or vessel.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.
c. Objects and Advantages
An objective of current invention is to eliminate complex pumps, electronics and feedback sensors, thereby providing a mechanism that stores and meters fluids and is sensitive to feedback from, and is able to adjust its dispensing speed in response to other like dispensers, so that a multitude of dispensers may mutually reinforce the same/common dispensing speed but dispense at individual ratios to said speed.
A further objective is to provide a design for a dispenser module system in which semi rigid collapsible containers are actuated by a shared cable and dispense a precisely proportioned mixture of two or more components.